Dennis Beaulieu - MCA-I Member Profile - January 2007 - 11-Jan-07: Media Communications video production multimedia producer director editor camera operator writer

From shooter to director of special effects, Dennis Beaulieu's (Beaulieu Productions, Middle Haddan CT) love for the business has not faded in the more than 40 years spent peering through view finders and editing footage.

DB: Today I shoot in just about any format, up to and including high definition, digital Beta SP, just about any format that's going out there. But I still like film. It still has a unique look to it. But I do try to keep up with technology. I edit on a Mac G5, using Final Cut Pro HD. The technology has really evolved, especially in the realm of special effects - from a guy in a suit stomping around on models to the most realist special effects. It's just unbelievable.

DR: When you started out, the business was comparatively low-tech. What does the new technology bring to you?

DB: We do have the advantage now... It used to take us weeks to do some editing and get it approved. In the digital age of editing right on site, enabling everyone to see what they have. We can get approval in moments instead of days or weeks. It really has things moving a lot faster.

DB: People haven't really changed. The media might change, but the people are still the people. The actors are still the actors, the directors and producers. It still requires pretty much the same technology behind the camera. One thing that has changed, going into high definition is the make-up. Now they air brush it on, instead of putting it on with spatulas, thick and heavy like they we used to use.

DB: I fell in love with TV at the ripe old age of 5 when I was on the Tex Pavel Show on Channel 30 in West Hartford as part of the gallery. And I fell in love with the TV cameras, the studio, the whole 9 yards. And then when I was in high school I was part of the audio visual aids programs. After high school I joined the Navy. After my first year as the base Commander's driver, he said to train my replacement, and "What did I want to do?" So I ran up to personnel and asked what's the best job in the Navy? They said you want to be a yeoman and write for the paper. Well, I could never write well, "so you want to be the photographer that goes with them." So I said, ya that's me. So I ran back down and told the commander office that I wanted to be the photographer's mate. He said, "you're in luck my father-in-law is the Commanding officer in Pensacola Florida where the school is.

So 30 days later I'm down in Pensacola. A graduation present from photography school was orders to Viet Nam. I was stationed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation, CDA 64. We were in Viet Nam all through 1968 and 69. Our mission at the photo lab was to document the Carrier Based Air War Supporting the Tet Offensive.

We also took the actual footage of the fires on the Forestall and the Enterprise and produce 2 fire fighting training films that are still used in the boot camp at the Great Lakes today.

(Top Photo Above - Sherry Lewis and Lamb Chop)
(Bottom Photo Above - Dennis with the ‘rich and famous’ Robin Leach)

DR: You will be Director of Special Effects on a film that goes into production soon.

DB: Raul DeSilva wrote the script. His last piece, which he entered into awards and won five gold medals in film festivals plus an honorable mention. The name of the film is "The Blue Light." We have tentative commitments from Ed Asner, Mark Hammond, William Atherton, Lee Purcell and Larry Luckinbill. It's about an obnoxious, womanizing college professor who accidentally creates a black hole in the laboratory, which through a course of events totally humbles him. And you start to sympathize and like this poor little whipped guy. Then it's the escapades of trying to eliminate the black hole which is calculated to swallow the entire solar system within about three years. I'm the associate producer and director of special effects. I get to kill off Ed Asner and few other people with the black hole.

DB: I have a very good crew. I have a person from Toronto who specializes in wire frames. I have another person from New York that renders surfaces, and another person who specializes in compositing these special effects on one frame. One the main things is making the special effects look realistic and believable. The Swedish scientist who invented the black hole accidentally touches it. We get to rip off his sleeve and lab coat. We rip off the flesh. Then as everybody lets out this blood curdling scream, he gets sucked into the black hole. And then there's dead silence.

DR: You’re an MCA-I life member. What’s the single most important reason you

chose the longer commitment?

DB: When I first became a member, I realized that I had long term interest. I wanted to stay in the business. I found that the association really gave me a lot of good contacts. It was through the organization that I first became a judge for the New York Festivals. I saw that it was very valuable and that I knew I was going to be in the association long term, and that's why I decided to become a Life Member. It was financial feasibly to get a lifetime membership instead of paying each year. And after about seven or eight year, the payback was already there. I've been a member of the association at least twice that long, and I have seen year after year that my membership has brought a lot of work to me. And I have also been able to refer a lot of work to my fellow members.

I was a member of the ITVA, early on, which became the MCA-I. Tim Clopman, who was the head of the studio for Southern New England Telephone Company, is the one who actually got me interested. He knew I wrote Interactive computer tutorials and asked me how to transfer a PowerPoint program to Beta SP. By the time I got through explaining the process, he said, "Why don't you just go ahead and do it?" I was a member. He was a member, and the job was a direct result of networking within the organization. We're a close knit group here in Connecticut and we look within the MCA-I for our resources.

DB: I've always used the ITVA/MCA-I for networking. I lecture at universities and colleges, and one of the things I stress is networking. I tell them that their greatest asset is their internship. Wherever you go keep in touch with five people. Those five people will be in five different places, and continue networking like that. And I've also taught my daughters how to do that. And I didn't realize how well it took.

For New Years Eve I went to Time Square, and couldn't get within six blocks of it. It had already filled up all the way to Columbus Circle. But my daughter said, "Wait a minute." She got on her cell phone and called a person she knows on the New York City Police Department. He was on duty at Time Square. He came out, walked us in right on Time Square inside the barricades. We're standing there next to Colin Powell and Mayor Bloomberg. All we had to do is turn around and watch the ball come down.

(Photo) Dennis, escorted by daughters. Cheryl was Miss Connecticut Intercontinental 2002 and Jacqueline was Miss New York Intercontinental 2002. Cheryl now is pursuing becoming a physician assistant and Jacqueline is pursuing a career in ballet, modeling and film and TV.

A gentleman nearby handed us his camera and asked that we take his picture. I asked my daughter, who's an actress and model, to take the picture and find out who he is. Turns out he was the President of Paramount Pictures, located in the adjoining building. She has emailed him pictures and kept in touch with him. My daughter has done very well for herself, appearing in several films and some TV stuff. And it's all through networking. One of the things I really like to stress is the networking I do through MCA-I which has really really paid off on a lot of different jobs.

DR: What sort of outreach projects to you do?

DB: I do a lot of judging at the International Film and TV Festival in New York. I also do the National Emmy Awards for news and documentaries, the Global Awards, and for eight consecutive years I was chosen one of six people world wide to go to New York and judge the UNESCO Award in broadcast humanities. One of the things I've always done in all the film festivals and all the judging is to make as many contacts as possible.

I worked on a video for the Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, New Riders of the Purple Sage. Buddy Cage, the guitarist for the Purple Sage got me the job. All through networking.

In recent meetings we've invited tax experts to tell us about Connecticut's brand new tax credit. Film makers can receive tax credit for productions in the state. To really learn the nuts 'n bolts we brought in three tax experts as well as the head of the Connecticut Film Commission.

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